California State Fair 2011

This is really old but I wanted to post it anyway.

Hubby and I enjoy visiting the state fair one night every year during the two week festivities. It’s fun to see all the people, rides, food booths, displays, musical and theatrical productions, and exhibits. The exhibits are probably my favorite because so many people spent time in a creative way and offered to display if for everyone who is interested in viewing it. Ribbons are given so it isn’t completely selfless but I think that improves the items displayed.

These were from the Craft exhibition:

Quilt and Blanket

Knit Shawl

Beaded Jewelry

Knit Tank top

We almost missed the exhibits with only 10 minutes to quickly browse two of the exhibit rooms it really wasn’t enough time to really enjoy it. I was excited to find a lady with her spinning wheel cleaning up for the night. I would have loved to see her spinning.

For food tasting we first browsed the food booths before most of us decided to buy ears of corn. The fun thing about these is all the toppings provided. Chili powder, garlic, butter. Everything smothered and covered. Four of the six of us there then shared a helping of fried cheese curds which was plenty. Disappointingly they tasted like fried mozzarella instead of curds. Oh well. After that we headed to the traditional cinnamon roll booth. I shared one with hubby since I’m never able to finish a whole one myself.

The evening was wasting so the six of us meandered through the vendor booths where I picked up some right hand rings for cheap and was called to by a number of vendors hoping I’d buy a mattress, a set of knives or frying pans, or let them fry my hair with their fancy straight irons. I find it all a little ironic.

Toward 10pm we headed outside to view the nightly firework show. It isn’t the most grand show but I Always love seeing the lights shimmer. For me it connects other strong memories in my past. The nostalgia and romance hang thick in the air for those few minutes and I’m 5 again lying in the grass with my parents and standing on the roof of my grandparents house at 21 knowing that in a year I’ll be married to my new fiance and 30 wishing my parents were there enjoying the show with me instead of at the hospital wondering if my mom will survive to see another year. So many emotions are packed into every light show no matter how grand or how small.

3 Responses to California State Fair 2011

Hi Cheryl. I recently viewed your blog entry with photos of your felted soap and I was blown away by your gorgeous designs (I didn’t see an option for leaving a comment on that entry, so here I am)! I recently started felting soap with alpaca and I cannot figure out how you got such tight, straight lines in your designs. Would you mind sharing your secret?

I definitely have a LOT to learn about felting, as I’m not sure how to even use those tools yet 🙂 This soap project is my first time ever felting anything. I am actually felting soaps and selling them w/ 100% of the proceeds going to Baltimore’s ‘Making Strides Against Breast Cancer’ walk in October. I’ve sold over 25 so far…they are very popular! So needless to say I’ve been felting my butt off haha. Getting better with practice, but still a long way off from the beautiful soaps you made! Thanks for sharing!